Sunday, April 30, 2017

Farewell to April (and good riddance?)

April was a tough month. 

I feel like I got none of my goals accomplished, personal or professional, and almost all I did was work and work-related.  Anything else was shunted to the side, as we implemented new processes and new guidelines into our operating units.  

This happens sometimes - usually once about every 6-9 months, but normally only for a couple of weeks.  This time has been a bit more intense, and the 60-70 hour weeks have been longer and more frequent. 

It's not great timing.  I have a major presentation due in three weeks, a project which is foundering a bit and needs some TLC.  I'm also supposed to start training for an athletic event in late summer, and my sons are both getting more active as the school year comes to an end.  Plus, I'm the race director for a 5K in June that so far, only has 4 runners (which is the same as the last two years, but my emotional brain doesn't process that).

Fortunately, a friend of mine had pointed out to me a few years ago that 'overwhelmed is a choice', and I take that in two ways.  First, you can't get overwhelmed if you don't overcommit to things.  So being prudent about what you take on as a mission is really important.  More directly, though, it means that the feeling of having too much on your plate can cause stress, but by prioritizing, delegating, and focusing, you can get through the hard times. 

So that's what I'm doing.  I've taken the weekend to line up my priorities of May, got myself organized and now I'm going through my work to find the items that my staff can handle, or that doesn't need to be done immediately, and can be ignored or deferred.   If I can do that, and strike a better balance of personal time and work time this month, I'll get to June 1st rested, ready, and prepared for an even bigger month.

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